


55 Days Since Case One

by AnExhaustedArmadillo



Series: Case One [13]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Evil Character, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 22:29:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,782
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20897144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnExhaustedArmadillo/pseuds/AnExhaustedArmadillo
Summary: Things at Salvation take a turn for the worse.





	55 Days Since Case One

The house Jeremy put them in was decently sized. It had three bedrooms and two bathrooms, plenty of room for the two of them. The first couple of nights they had shared the same room, too used to relying on each other to part even a little. But now, after almost a week with the community, they each slept in their own space and Carwood found himself adapting to their new dynamic.

They’d spent a good portion of the early days recovering; sleeping and eating the food that the community shared with them. They’d taken a tour of the community, which Carwood had found particularly interesting. The men at Salvation had an incredibly large armory, but what was truly impressive was their food supply. Jeremy had explained that many of the people who had lived in the suburb prior to the apocalypse had their own gardens, and when they died or fled they left behind their supplies. Even though it had only been about two months since the end, the community already had crops growing. Obviously none of them were ripe yet, but one day they would be, and the community would have a stable food supply.

In the few days they’d been there, the two of them had been fairly isolated. They’d talked a lot with Jeremy, and met with a few other members of the community, like the security workers. But they hadn’t met more than a handful of people and every interaction they’d had had been strangled by formality. It looked as though that was about to change, however.

“Congratulations,” Jeremy said, smiling brightly. “You’ve been approved to join the community.”

“Really?” Ron asked skeptically and Carwood fought to avoid rolling his eyes at his partner’s antics. “But we didn’t _do_ anything.”

“You behaved like normal, functioning people,” Jeremy explained. “We’re not unreasonable people here, Ron. We’d like to keep dangerous people out, but neither of you seem like a threat.” Jeremy said and Carwood knew that that wasn’t true. Ron was definitely a danger to anyone who crossed him, but Lipton doubted that would be a problem.

“Anyway,” Jeremy continued. “The community likes to celebrate when this happens. I’d like to invite the two of you to my house tonight for a, uh, party, of sorts. You’ll meet the leader of the community, mingle with all the people who live here. It’ll be fun.”

“Is that really necessary?” Ron asked, eyebrow raised. Jeremy’s smile didn’t go away.

“No, but, like I said, it’s fun. Celebrations are good for morale, they help keep us normal,” Jeremy said, then continued, not giving Ron a chance to argue. “I’ll see you tonight.” Without another word Jeremy was gone, whirled out of the door.

“Well,” Lipton said simply. “Looks like we’re partying.”

***

There were well over 100 people in the community, at least to Carwood's knowledge. There were maybe over twenty at the so-called party Carwood and Ron were at. Carwood wasn’t so sure he was “mingling with the people” seeing as none of them were there. He also didn’t think the leaders of the community were there. In fact, most of the partygoers seemed to be security workers, with a few others that Lipton didn’t quite recognize.

Ron stuck to his side for most of the night, which Carwood was grateful for. A part of him worried that when they were accepted into the community they’d split up, work different jobs, live in different houses, things like that. He knew that it was likely. He and Ron had been brought together mostly by convenience rather than choice, and he had no reason to think that they would -or should- stick together. Still, he couldn’t help the pit of unease opening in his stomach at the thought of separation.

As the night continued and Lipton felt his energy leave him, he stepped away from Ron to get a drink. That was another thing that Salvation was wealthy in: alcohol. There was absolutely no shortage of alcohol in the community, which Carwood supposed was good, in light of the state of the world. As he poured himself some wine a woman came to stand next to him. She was small, her clothes hanging off her frame. Lipton assumed she was waiting to get herself a drink and thus hurried to get out of her way, but she grabbed his forearm and stopped him.

“Go,” She said, and Carwood furrowed his brow.

“Sorry,” He said. “I was just trying to get out of your way.”

“No,” She hissed, and Carwood felt her nails dig into the flesh of his arm. “_Leave._”

“What?” Carwood asked. He didn’t know what she meant, but he sure as Hell didn’t like the way she said it. She whipped her eyes around the room and suddenly let go of his arm, speeding away from him before he could say anything. Carwood stood still for a second, dumbfounded by whatever had just happened. He left his glass of wine on a side table and went to find Ron.

“Hey,” Lipton said, voice low.

“Everything alright?” Ron said, brow furrowing.

“Um, I’m not sure,” Carwood said, leaning in close to stop anyone else from hearing him. “This woman just came over to me and-”

“May I have everyone’s attention, please?” Jeremy said from the center of the room. The place went silent, and Carwood couldn’t finish what he was saying. He exchanged a warning look with Ron. “Tonight we are welcoming two new members into our community. Ron, Carwood, we are so glad to have you here, we know you’ll be a great addition to the family we’ve built here at Salvation. Please, join me as we greet our leader.”

Just as Jeremy finished his speech, a man walked into the room, followed by two security guards holding guns out in front of them. The man walked up next to Jeremy and stopped, smiling at the room like the Cheshire Cat.

“Hi,” The man said in a drawling accent. “My name is Merriell Shelton, and I'm in charge here. Welcome, officially, to Salvation.”

As the leader began to speak, the room began to rearrange. Two of the guards, still wielding their guns, moved to stand behind Carwood and Ron. Carwood felt himself shudder, and he clenched his fists tightly. The remaining guards moved to stand near their leader, lined up on both sides of him.

“You see, gents,” The leader continued. “For centuries, humans have been divided the same way. Strong and weak. Rich and poor. The haves and the have nots. This goes back centuries. Serfdom, slavery, the goddamn Bible- all of it sculpted around those with power, and those without. Well, it seems to me, and to all the lovely people at Salvation today that this is just the natural order of things. The apocalypse has just made these things a little more obvious.

“The world’s gone down the shitter. That, boys, is beyond dispute. With the difficulties that come with a world in the shitter, it becomes necessary for those who are weak to seek protection from those who are strong. And it’s only right for those who are weak to somehow compensate the ones who so kindly offer them their protection.

“You, you two, Ron and Car-wood, have the potential to be very strong. You two could have a real good life here. You can be what we call Protectors. You agree to protect the people here who are physically unable to protect themselves, and those people will compensate you justly.”

Merriell Shelton finished his monologue and the room went silent, the same type of quiet it had been when he first entered the room. Carwood looked at Ron, eyes wide. To a stranger, Ron’s face would be unreadable. For Carwood, he could tell that Ron’s blank face was masking the vehement rage and disgust he had for the system he was being told about.

Carwood considered what he knew. He thought back to the women he’d seen in the camp so far. They looked haggard, malnourished. They were alive, yes, which Carwood supposed was the basic definition of “protected”. But they weren’t alright. The system Merriell Shelton described sounded exploitative at best, but in practice it was downright barbaric. He’d enslaved the people of Salvation and given them to the other people in Salvation to be abused. Shelton was offering to make him and Ron part of the twisted upper class, but Carwood knew he could never, ever do that to somebody, no matter how well he was “compensated”.

“No,” Carwood said, turning to face Shelton head on.

“Excuse me?” The other man said.

“No,” Ron repeated. “In fact, I think we’d like to leave.”

That, apparently, was the wrong thing to say. Shelton gave them a frown, though the smile never left his eyes. The guards behind them took a step forward, their boots squeaking on the ground. The guards next to Shelton raised their guns.

“Well that is a damn shame,” Shelton said, shaking his head. His pretense of a frown gave way to an unsettling smile. “Boys, you know what to do.”

“Put your hands in the air,” Said a voice behind them. Carwood did as he was asked, trying to ignore the shaking of his hands as he lifted them above his head. He never thought it would end like this. To think, he’d survived the beginning of the apocalypse only to be killed weeks later. He would’ve laughed at the irony if he hadn’t been so petrified.

He didn’t register it when he started walking. He faintly recognized that he’d been ordered to, that Ron was still next to him, but he felt as if he was watching himself move, as if he wasn’t really there. He saw himself being led to a small building. It was damp on the inside. Dark, dirty. He wondered idly how many others had been killed in there. He tried to find the words to ask.

They walked through the dingy hallway and Carwood wanted to whisper something to Ron. A reassurance perhaps, though he was sure that Ron was handling their imminent execution better than he was. Before he got the chance to say anything, he was pushed roughly from behind, and he felt his hands move without his control to brace himself against the wall. They’d pushed him into a small room, no bigger than a closet. He whipped around, facing the doorway.

“Ron!” He yelled, finding his voice finally. Ron took a sharp step towards him, mouth opening as if he was about to say something, but the door was slammed on both of them and Carwood found himself drowned in darkness.

**Author's Note:**

> :) Thoughts?
> 
> What if you... left a comment? Jk jk haha... unless...?


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